– DC Theatre Scene prides itself on going where our audiences go – to theatres locally, in Baltimore and New York, and to the movies. And now, the newest member of our writing team, actor John Dellaporta, is about to take us where DCTS has never gone before. I’ll let him tell you about it. –
Hello, readers of DC Theatre Scene. We’re going to talk about TV now, too.
Wait, what?
Hold on, there’s an actual reason for this, I promise. We’re experiencing an interesting point in network TV (and broader pop culture), where aspects of the theatrical world, for whatever reason, are striking a chord with people, and leading to the creation of shows that emphasize this
Sometimes, it works well. Sometimes, it’s a disastrous mess. But, I must say that it somehow manages to always be interesting. If you’ve been on Facebook much over the last couple of weeks, you’ll note that, loved it or hated it, everyone had a strong opinion about the film version of Les Misérables, as well as an irresistible urge to share that opinion with the entire Internet.
In this spirit of sharing things with the entire Internet, I’ve been asked to join DC Theatre Scene to talk about upcoming episodes of Smash and Glee. These are interesting shows to get into on a weekly basis, I think. Smash will be coming into its new season with a major creative reboot and a lot of baggage (a subject on which I will have much more to say very soon).
And Glee…well, Glee is a Ryan Murphy show. Watching Glee is like standing outside the monkey cage at the zoo: there are loud noises, huge moments, things thrown around until they stick to a wall, hilarious missteps, fascinating lack of short-term memory, and, if we watch very very closely, signs of human intelligence that foster a deep connection between the viewer and the viewed.
I’ll do my best to get a reaction piece to each episode written and posted by the following day, allowing for a lively conversation to start in the comments (Glee airs Thursday nights, and Smash will air on Tuesdays beginning in February).
A quick note on the reviewing style – these are pieces that serve as personal reactions to what has already aired, meaning they’re by-and-large designed to be read after viewing an episode, not before. Likewise, while they are bannered as “recaps”, I won’t be making an effort to treat them as an effective play-by-play that would suitably allow you to be caught up if you missed it (both shows, after all, are available on Hulu, their networks’ websites, and On Demand). For a primer, you can read some of the material I’ve previously written, over on my personal TV blog.
Of course, please feel free to read even if you don’t watch either show, too! Who knows, maybe these write-ups will only make you feel better about that decision. And come on! We’re dealing with shows being spearheaded by a former writer for Gossip Girl and The Clown Prince of Television himself!
If nothing else, things will be interesting. And isn’t that the whole point of discussing things the next day?
